Mailbag: Letters to the editor

Not so Goode
Particularly good(e) simile comparing Virgil Goode to a toenail fungus [“The Odd Dominion: President Virgil Goode,” May 1]. The ex-congressman is so attached to power that he’s changed parties three times, and just refuses to listen to the people who dis-elected him. Like a bad fungus, he won’t go away!
But the problem is, a toenail fungus may be a pain and a nuisance, but Virgil Goode brought us Bush tax cuts, wars that killed and displaced millions, economic disparity, and the social violence of anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-immigrant fear mongering. The destruction wrought under decades of Goode’s so-called leadership has left our country broken, bankrupt, and morally destitute. Goode and his supporters remain willfully ignorant that they live in a society whose survival is based on inclusivity and cooperation, not fear and xenophobia.
Maybe a more apt simile would be to compare Goode (and his Constitution party) to Toxoplasmosis, a parasite that causes paranoid schizophrenia in its victims, and has no real cure. Seriously, Virgil, we’ve figured you out, and we want you to go away.

Evan Knappenberger
Albemarle County

Trail work
I appreciated the recent article on the Rivanna Trail [“The People’s Pathway: Twenty years after it was created, the Rivanna Trail comes to a crossroads,” May 22]. I have lived in Charlottesville since 1982, and continue to be in awe of the beauty of the area. I would love to see the Rivanna Trail be utilized as a community resource for hiking, biking, picnicking, the way that similar trails are used in other communities.
My husband and I went to Lynchburg over the weekend to bike on the Blackwater Creek Bikeway, a six mile paved trail wide enough for two bikes side by side. The Bikeway impressed us with its variety and beauty, and the well marked entrances and side hiking and mountain biking trails. The Bikeway eventually leads into downtown Lynchburg and then crosses the James to go out past Percival’s Island.
There were so many people enjoying the trail, it is an amazing free community resource that encourages people to get outside and enjoy exercise in nature. I strongly suggest that the City of Charlottesville and the Rivanna Trail Foundation look to our southern neighbor as a model for what the Rivanna Trail could be to our community.

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